Vice President Joe Biden Speaks at 2016 AIS Gala

By Carl Herder

June 6, 2016 – Our 10th anniversary gala was held at the Lighthouse at the Chelsea Piers, and we had the distinct privilege of honoring both Aaron Graff and Bruce Willis. As the dinner was nearing completion, Clarence Page introduced a very special surprise guest, Vice President Joe Biden, prior AIS 2008 honoree. He took the stage and shared a heartfelt speech about his own experiences as a child who stuttered.

Biden repeated emphatically to the audience, many of whom stutter, that stuttering does not define the core of a person, and that tackling stuttering builds skills that help with countless other life challenges. He even invited Layla to the stage, a teen who had written a letter to him.

Biden asked Willis to return to the stage and joked with him that he was interested in auditioning now that his term of office was coming to an end!